A good news story about teens and alcohol

It's understandably worrying for parents when faced with their children growing into young adults - we know that teens and alcohol don't mix. So it's heartening to hear Dr Justin Coulson reveal some good news about today's youth. Perhaps we're getting something right, after all?

Given the dangers of alcohol, particularly for teenagers, and the regular news stories describing out of control teens, it is a good news day when data points to reductions in teen drinking. The Australian Secondary Students’ Alcohol and Drug Survey (ASSAD) highlighted that drinking among 12-15 year-olds fell from 29 percent in 2002 to just 11 percent in 2011 (when asking about past-week consumption). Among the slightly older group of 16-17 year-olds the numbers also fell sharply, from nearly one in two (48 percent) to only one in three (33 percent) who had been drinking in the past week [3]. It’s also worth pointing out that while our alcohol consumption is dropping, so too are youth use of tobacco and illicit drugs.

What the data tells us

New research, published this month in the scholarly journal, Addiction, shows that the trend is continuing and has been found to be true in multiple areas. In this research, participants were asked if they had consumed alcohol in the previous 12 months – certainly a much clearer indication of drinking behaviour than the ASSAD report which considered only the past week. The data told the following story:

The pattern of alcohol abstinence improvements was consistent for both male and female respondents.

While alcohol consumption increases as our teens get older, the numbers are improving each year. For example, only 18 percent of 17-year-olds were abstaining in 2001, that had increased to 28.7 percent in 2010 – nearly one in three.

Young people who are students are more likely to abstain from alcohol (54.6 percent) than young people who are working (26.1 percent).

Young males are slightly more likely to abstain from alcohol than young females.

Why is this happening?

The research suggests three key reasons for the shift in the change towards tee-totalling among our youth:

1. Health and safety concerns

There are strong social concerns about alcohol and young people. With regular stories in the news about alcohol-fuelled violence or schoolies who fall from balconies, there seems to be a strong social push to emphasise the dangers of alcohol and the need to restrict its availability.

2. Technology keeps them busy

Some data points to new technologies and leisure pursuits pulling teens away from the bottle. If our kids are spending three-to-six hours a day playing games and interacting with their devices, they have less time for drinking.

3. Cultural norms are changing

As Australia’s population becomes increasingly diverse, some researchers suggest that the cultural norms of our population are shifting, with youth raised by parents from non-drinking (or lighter-drinking) cultures following the examples of their parents. Research tells us that our teenagers are most likely to drink alcohol when they have parents who endorse it and peers who do it. If the data are accurate, we are seeing an important public health change occurring in our youth, making them healthier and safer than previous generations. Plenty of people love to point out that society is falling apart. This research gives us glimmers of hope, and suggests that in most cases, the kids are all right. What are you teaching your kids about drinking? Do you lead by example?